Actually, it doesn't seem to matter who is on the mound at the moment.

The reigning NL Rookie of the Year is hitting .417 with four homers, eight RBIs and a .778 slugging percentage. His run-scoring single in the eighth gave the 20-year-old Harper at least two hits in seven of nine games so far.

With the score tied at 3 in the fourth, Haren helped himself by doubling off Axelrod (0-1) and eventually scoring on a wild pitch with two outs. Chicago then put Harper on base on purpose, but the move didn't work: Cleanup hitter Zimmerman lined a double to right on Axelrod's 103rd – and final – pitch of the evening.

"I just didn't want to give in. We got to 3-2 and I went with the changeup. I hadn't thrown a changeup to a right-hander all game," Axelrod said, "and it seemed like a good idea at the time."

That put Washington ahead 6-3, and relievers Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano made it hold up. Soriano pitched the ninth for his fifth save in six chances, and third in three days.

"Well, I was tempted to go another route," Johnson acknowledged afterward, "but he hadn't cried 'Uncle' for me yet."

Swirling wind carried napkins and other debris from the stands onto the grass, pushed batted balls away from the fences, and turned some otherwise routine plays into adventures for fielders. Following a couple of days in the 80s, the temperature dipped into the 50s.

After trailing 3-1, the Sox pulled even in the fourth. With a man on, Axelrod popped up a bunt that first baseman Adam LaRoche couldn't quite reach, and the ball bounced by for an infield single. Alejandro De Aza and Jeff Keppinger hit RBI singles – ending the Sox's 0-for-10 stretch with runners in scoring position over two games.

But other than Adam Dunn's RBI double off Mattheus in the sixth, the Sox couldn't get more runners home.

"We left a few guys on early, swung it good in the middle," Ventura said, "and nothing really happened after that."

NOTES: Sox LHP Jose Quintana starts against Indians RHP Justin Masterson on Friday. ... Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, acquitting himself much better than the other time he had the honor. Last time, he spiked his attempt straight into the ground, prompting his "catcher" that day, Nationals reliever Drew Storen, to joke Wednesday: "Give me a sky hook." With LHP Gio Gonzalez receiving this time, Wall put the ball in the glove with a soft lob.